Impulse
by thisism3smiling
Summary: Everything in InuYasha Taisho's life was perfect and in order, but the feeling in his gut - perhaps his own detective's instincts - warned of awful things to come.   Inu/Kag
1. Promises

**Originally written for Challenge Destiny (Eternal Destiny's livejournal companion group)'s summer contest. Enjoy! :)**

**1.** Promises  
><em>Prompt: Blossom<em>

"You're amazing," Kagome whispered, making his cheeks blossom in a rare smile. She had a way of doing that to him. Her innocently spoken, but sincerely meant words made him feel fiercely pleased with himself and his abilities.

...not that InuYasha Taisho, one of the best detectives in Tokyo, lacked confidence. The man proved skill, and the media praised him with every case he famously closed. What made Kagome special was her witnessing his successes. Because of the irregular hours he kept at work, girlfriends willing to stick with him were rare.

Wrapping his arms around the girl who was different, he grinned.

"How so?" he teased, examining her messily tied hair. A simple, silver ribbon—reminiscent of his own uniquely hued hair—held her onyx locks up, but he much preferred them loose and untamed.

Kagome elbowed him for yanking the ribbon, then held up the day's paper.

"Look," she said, giggling when her boyfriend feigned hurt by her jab. "You made the front page for breaking that Peach Man case!"

The detective snorted at the obnoxious headline.

For years the cannibal Peach Man terrorized Tokyo with his infamous kill and torture spree. His M.O was to go after men, but when women began disappearing, InuYasha took interest in the difficult case, then cracked it.

"People like him make the world terrifying, but you make it less so by stopping them," Kagome explained, gazing adoringly at InuYasha.

"That's why I think you're amazing."

InuYasha sighed. She, too, was amazing, but he couldn't tell her that just yet. Instead, he did the next best thing.

"Don't ever be scared of men like Peach Man," he told her seriously. "Because I'll _always_protect you."

"Promise?" Kagome laughed.

Rather than answer, InuYasha kissed her, then reluctantly left to go to work.


	2. I Left This Morning

**2.** I Left This Morning...  
><em>Prompt: Mirage<em>

En route to the precinct, InuYasha's smile faded, replaced by feelings of anxiety. The cause for it eluded him. As far as he knew, he was in no trouble with his ball-buster of a Lieutenant, Sango Hiraikotsu, at work. His Sergeant and best friend, Miroku Houshi, usually made sure of that. As far as his home life went, well...

_Kagome_ was his home, and everything there seemed perfect, too.

"I'm just being paranoid," InuYasha mumbled, but as he spoke the words aloud, he maneuvered his car into a sharp u-turn.

~*~

"Kagome?" InuYasha called, knocking on the door to their apartment. When his girlfriend let him in, she looked concerned.

"Did you forget something?"

He looked around. Embarrassed, he saw that everything was fine. She, too, seemed unharmed, though in the middle of getting dressed. She worked afternoons at a local daycare and had to be there soon.

"I thought I did," InuYasha mumbled, flushing red.

"You look a little heated. Are you sick?"

Kagome brought a hand up to his forehead, feeling for any signs of fever. "Maybe you shouldn't go in today. You've been working so hard and—"

"No it's fine," InuYasha said, attempting to smile. He felt idiotic for running back home when there was nothing there to worry about. Everything was perfect and in order.

...but the feeling in his gut—perhaps his own detective's instincts—spoke otherwise, warning of awful things to come.

~*~

"InuYasha?"

When Kagome heard another knock on the door, she opened it expecting to see her harried-looking boyfriend again. Instead, a man she didn't recognize stood there.

"Can I help you?" she stammered out, alarmed by the suspicious looking stranger.

"Yes," she heard him cackle before her world exploded in noxious purple gas that made her crumple where she stood.


	3. Nirvana Dreams Were Never Right

******3.** Nirvana Dreams Were Never Right  
><em>Prompt: Paradise Lost<em>

"You're late," Sango snapped.

The detective grinned guiltily. "Sorry Lieu. I had to double back home. Emergency."

"Is everything okay?"

It always shocked InuYasha: how quickly her voice could change from no-nonsense to concerned. Despite her reputation as a hard-ass, Lieutenant Hiraikotsu genuinely cared about those in her command. He nodded.

"Good," she said. "Because there's still a shit-ton of work to do on that Peach Man case. He says he never kidnapped those females."

"Bullshit."

Sango grinned wryly, handing him a stuffed manila envelope. "We'll see."

"I guess," InuYasha mumbled, walking over to his desk. "Mind if I make a phone call?"

Normally, after waltzing in late, he wouldn't ask, but anxiety still had him fearing something that had yet to transpire. Because whatever was going on with her best detective would no doubt distract him from work, Sango reluctantly allowed him his call.

"Make it fast," she ordered.

~*~

"Damn it."

Three calls and still no answer, and with his boss ready to lance him for making two extra calls home, InuYasha didn't dare attempt a fourth.

"Why isn't she—"

"Detective?"

Sergeant Houshi poked his head into his office.

"You've gotta get out here. There's some nut job claiming credit for our female vics."

"What?"

Just then, InuYasha became aware of the racket outside.

"_I_ killed them! Me!" Someone was shouting. InuYasha ran to see what was going on in the lobby of their Precinct house and saw a man trying to fight off several officers.

"But there's more," the strange man laughed, and a sick feeling spiraled up his spine when the nut job turned and looked directly at him. "One more, and she's going to die if you don't find her within the next nine hours Detective Taisho."


	4. The Man Who Cried Murder

**4.** The Man Who Cried Murder  
><em>Prompt: Mud Pie<em>

Sango hastily pulled her best detective and trusted Sergeant aside.

"Why would he confess?"

It was something their homicide department saw often: people trying to take credit for the most gruesome, sensationalized murders. This man, however, could name names, and they were all victims whose identities had yet to be released by the press.

"He's playing with us," InuYasha deduced. The man gave himself up while promising a fourth, still missing victim and a time limit. "I think he wants to see if we're smart enough to find his last vic."

"Can we be sure that there is one?"

Miroku seemed skeptical, but InuYasha could feel something awful about to happen. The fact that Kagome had yet to call him back set him even more on edge. He had no reason to think so, but in the back of his mind, InuYasha feared the worst. Whoever this man was, he came in and directed his confession at him, making the detective wonder if he was personally being put to the test.

_`Is this a challenge?'_

"We'll find out soon enough," Sango sighed.

~*~

"What did he have on him?"

"You're wasting time," the man called out from his cell. InuYasha gave him the once over, eyeing with disgust his wild appearance. Dark hair hung greased and knotted down his back, and his eyes were an unusual color—such a deep brown hue that they almost flashed red in certain lights. Dressed in mud-slicked clothing, he looked the part of someone long gone off his meds.

"Shut up," the detective warned, before addressing the rookie who searched him. "Was he carrying weapons? Drugs?"

"No," but the officer held something peculiar up for inspection.

"All he had on him was this ribbon."


	5. Impulse

**Warnings: **Language, Violence, Police Brutality.

**5.** Impulse  
><em>Prompt: Roadblock<em>

InuYasha would recognize that silver hairpiece anywhere. Kagome wore it almost daily. It even carried the honeyed scent of her shampoo.

"Son of a bitch," he whispered, gazing in shock and horror at the silk. Mud, like the murky brown spots staining his prisoner's hair and clothes, flecked the fabric. Or was it blood, long dried and telling of her fate?

The detective couldn't think, couldn't breathe. He crushed the ribbon in his hands, bile circuiting its way up his throat.

"Is everything alright, sir?" the nervous rookie, who unwittingly confirmed his worst suspicions, asked.

_`No. Everything is not alright.'_ InuYasha turned to face his challenger.

"Nine hours. That's how much time I have to find her?" the detective asked quietly, his head hanging limply on his shoulders. Slowly, he brought a hand up to his chest, unpinning his gold shield and letting it drop. His gun and duty belt fell next.

The man laughed mirthlessly. "Figured it out, have you?"

"That gives me till midnight."

In a flash, InuYasha had his hand through the cell door and around the man's throat.

"And if I break your fucking _fingers_?" he demanded, rage blinding him. "Or if I stepped in there and kicked your ass? How much time would I have then?"

"Taisho!" Sango barked, busting into the room. Other officers followed, trying in vain to pry him away from the cages. "Are you crazy? Get your hands off our prisoner. He's in custody!"

InuYasha refused to let them stop him. "He has her Lieu," he explained, nausea, fury, and fear giving him enough inhuman strength to take on half the force. "That ribbon he had in his pocket—that's Kagome's. She's the one with nine hours."

"How? Who _is_ this man?"

The mad man grinned in answer. "Call me Naraku."


	6. Under Pressure

**Warnings: **Language, Violence, Police Brutality.

**6.** Under Pressure  
><em>Prompt: Buried Alive<em>

"Naraku, eh?" InuYasha grimaced, his fist wound tight around the man's filthy shirt. He yanked hard, pulling the psychopath up against the bars of his cell. "I swear to you," he grunted, ignoring the chaos behind him and the hands of other officers clawing at his own. "I will kill you if she dies or is hurt in any way. Do you hear me? _I'll kill you!_"

"That's enough, InuYasha."

Gently, his best friend and Sergeant pulled him back. The detective shrugged him off.

"The hell it is," he muttered, charging forward again. "Somebody open this cage!"

"Damn it," he heard Miroku say, his tone suddenly furious. InuYasha was shocked to find himself torn from Naraku and shoved against a wall.

"We don't have time for this, you idiot!" the usually calm Sergeant spat. "If what he says is true, then _Kagome's_ in trouble. We need to be smart, and that means NOT pissing off the only person who knows her whereabouts."

"He's right," Naraku sang, unfazed by the attack.

The detective twitched, part of him wanting to pick up his gun and shoot all sixteen rounds into the bastard's stupid smirk. The more rational part acknowledged the Sergeant's words and felt buried under the pressure of their time constraint.

He hated feeling helpless.

Miroku saw this and took charge. "Take five to get your head on straight while the Lieutenant and I work on strategy," he ordered.

InuYasha shook his head. "No. Sarge, I _can't_sit this one out."

"You can and you will. Its just five minutes, Yash. We'll handle things while you get your emotions in check, won't we Lieu?"

Miroku looked over his shoulder for confirmation and smiled. The Lieutenant was already barking orders.


End file.
